In many ways this is the book that inspired
this project. Far from being my favourite Alan Bennett work, the author’s struggles
with his mom’s dementia and depression nonetheless made me think of how even my
own self-proclaimed prodigious memory is already (at 28) showing its fallacies.
If someone asked me for my all-time 10
favourite books, one name I would definitely throw in there is Heinrich
Böll’s The Clown. Yet,
I now realize that – having read it more than a decade ago – I remember the way
I felt when I was reading it, but I have no idea what its plot actually is. I
have now decided to write down a few lines about pretty much every book I’ve
read – despite the fact that, I’m afraid, I’ll probably have to use Wikipedia
in order to remember what many of these books were about. This is more for me than
for an audience, yet my wife suggested I make it a blog rather my usual
spreadsheet.
Anyway, this book by Alan Bennett is about more
than the depression and dementia of his author’s mother. Bennett raises a
number of points that are crucial for everyone who has ever had to care for his
(grand)parents: why do we do that? Shouldn’t they just be allowed to go? When
their minds, or their capacity to express their emotions, appear to be lost,
are they still the people we loved? Do we look after them for their own good,
or simply to feel good (or at least ok) about ourselves?
It’s not like these questions have never been
asked, and Bennett’s answers (when he has them) are not exactly groundbreaking –
but he just writes so beautifully.
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